Students Watch Opportunity Land
By Emily Berg, Staff Writer
Students and staff at the Academy for Academic Excellence, the charter school associated with the Lewis Center for Educational Research, eagerly snatched the chance to watch history in the making. The students and staff joined NASA scientists and their families to monitor the landing of the Mars rover Opportunity.
The five Apple Valley students said Monday they felt special and smart to be a part of the once-in-a-lifetime event.
Fifth-grader Sam Johnson said it was "pretty cool" to sit in the auditorium and listen to scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena explain the data from the rover and watch on a big screen mission control at work.
"Not a lot of people got to go," Johnson said. "It was like making history."
Opportunity touched down on the Red Planet about 9:05 p.m. Saturday, joining the rover Spirit in a search for signs of life.
The students represented thousands who worked with National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientists to determine the right landing site for the rovers. The students operated the giant 34-meter telescope at Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Fort Irwin through classroom computers to collect data on the type of soil and other conditions of the landing site.
Five other students from Pasadena and Moreno Valley, who helped gather the data, also attended the landing.
"As far as we know, these were the only elementary students to be involved in a project like this," said David MacLaren, the director of educational research and development for the Lewis Center.
About 500 people packed the auditorium in Pasadena. A large screen showed them what was happening in mission control along with data from the rover. They had up-to-date information on the landing time, the rover's distance to travel and its speed.
Opportunity accelerated to more than 12,000 mph as it entered Mars' atmosphere, MacLaren said. The audience burst into applause when scientists announced it had landed.
The robot explorer bounced off the alien planet's surface for at least nine minutes before it made a complete landing and started sending a signal, MacLaren said.
People were crying, laughing and hugging over the successful landing, said Micah Nyhoff, a ninth-grade student who attended the landing.
Nyhoff said he would never forget that picture of mission control and the thunderous applause from the audience.
To others, the landing may not seem like a big deal, but he played a role in the landing and the trip to JPL was unforgettable.
"I go there, and I see my work actually did something for (the scientists)," Nyhoff said.
Used with permission by Daily Press, Freedom Communication, 2004